Why should his tender form expire

Why should his tender form expire,
As blossoms perish in the fire?
How could that gentle life endure
The deadly arrow, sharp and sure?

Restore your arrow to the quiver;
To you were weapons lent
The broken-hearted to deliver,
Not strike the innocent.

Form: Elegy Comments

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace